Right now, raise the count of cops in Trenton

It’s an absolutely disgraceful performance by the Trenton City Council. I wonder: Are council members reading this newspaper every day? Every day, more homicides are happening. The city is in crisis, people are being killed and members of council don’t seem to care.

They apparently think the citizens and voters in Trenton will keep electing them only if they lower taxes, or certainly don’t increase taxes, even as the city is overwhelmed by homicides.

Well, council members are wrong.

But, if they will look at themselves in the mirror this minute and all of them get together within the hour and pass an emergency tax increase, maybe the City of Trenton can show higher-level governments that the citizens of Trenton are worthy, that Trenton is in crisis, that they need help — and please send the city more police this afternoon.

-- Bruce Lloyd,
Ewing

Officials pull through, tame borough traffic

For years, Hopewell Borough has struggled with the speed of traffic on the county thoroughfares extending through our downtown.

The Hopewell Township Police Department should be commended for its efforts to enforce the existing speed limits on East Broad Street, West Broad Street and Louellen Street — but I think everyone agrees that, based on the nature of the neighborhoods surrounding the center of Hopewell Borough, those speed limits were just too high.

I want to personally thank our county freeholders, Mayor Paul Anzano, our borough clerk and our entire borough council, especially Councilman Sean Jackson, for helping to organize the recent efforts to bring attention to the safety issues on the borough streets and crosswalks, and Councilmen David Mackie and Bob Lewis for making the case to our freeholder board earlier this month.

We have an amazing downtown full of great restaurants, shops, businesses and, don’t forget, residents and children as well.

With the soon-to-be-reduced speed limits, I ask motorists to please remember to drive no faster than 25 mph, mind the crosswalks and we’ll all enjoy a safer downtown.

-- Ryan Kennedy,
Hopewell Borough
The writer is a candidate for Hopewell Borough Council in the June 4 Democratic primary.

Many links in the chain of bicycle enthusiasts

The Times’ Good Times section published a great review of “Unchained: The Art of the Bicycle” (“Bicycle lovers put their unique spin on art works,” May 24), an exhibit that runs through June 13.

When I first read about the show in an earlier edition of The Times, I called ArtWorks to check on directions and hours. Being a “bicycle nut,” I dropped what I was doing and told my wife that we were going to Trenton. We drove to ArtWorks and got there just after they opened for the day. After we were greeted, we had the show to ourselves. I am interested in everything related to bicycles and all expressions of art. This show is a work of art, in many different forms, as the review by Janet Purcell elaborates.

I took pictures of most of the items, including Larry Chestnut’s oil painting “Fixing That Flat.” I stopped at my bike store, The Bike Rack, in Hightstown, and showed them to the owner, Van Delfino. When he saw this picture, he recognized the man in the painting and said, “That’s Eric. He is one of my customers.” It’s great to make a connection like that.

I would like to add some of my own thoughts on bicycle art. In many cases, the bicycles themselves are works of art. There are many examples of this in the Pryor Dodge book “The Bicycle.” Enthusiasts can also try the Wheelmen website. Click on memorabilia and they can view the Norman Batho collections of bicycle sheet music covers and cigar box labels. These are unique art forms. My own collection includes small sculptures, prints, photos, posters, postcards and postage stamps.

Again, thanks to ArtWorks and The Times and all the people involved.

-- Ed Muench,
Monroe

Don’t open the door to assisted suicide

Our Legislature is moving to legalize assisted suicide, euphemistically described as the Death with Dignity bill (S2259/A3328). Promoting suicide is a bad idea. We ought not to be promoting suicide when we have large segments of society (teens, the military and veterans) plagued with high suicide rates.

In our financially strapped health-care system, assisted suicide poses a real threat to people with disabilities, the poor, those without health care, people suffering from AIDS and people diagnosed with incurable diseases.

Once we legalize suicide, it will be impossible to limit the extent to which it is allowed. Assisted suicide in the Netherlands has been legal since 2002, but it has been tolerated there since the 1970s. The Dutch have gone from assisted suicide to euthanasia — first for the terminally ill and then for the chronically ill.

Our legislators should be seeking positive alternatives for people with physical and/or mental issues, solutions such as proper medical, palliative and psychological care that will lead to a far better outcome.

I ask readers to please urge their state legislators to take a stand against assisted suicide.

-- W. James White,
Hamilton

No freedom for convicted killer

While I’m a moderate liberal and enjoy reading the editorial columns of conservatives and liberals alike, please spare us the next time someone submits a guest opinion on Mumia Abu-Jamal.

I noticed that Mr. Taylor did not mention the facts of the case. Reports indicate that Mumia was wounded by a bullet from Officer Daniel Faulkner’s service revolver; that there were five spent shells from Mumia’s gun, which was registered to and owned by him, beside Abu-Jamal; that Abu-Jamal’s own gun was right beside him on the street; that witnesses identified him as the shooter; that Faulkner was killed by shots from Abu-Jamal’s gun; and that Mumia’s own brother refused to testify in his defense. While it’s true that an appellate court did overturn his death sentence because of a faulty instruction to the jury in the death-penalty phase, federal and state courts have consistently upheld Abu-Jamal’s conviction. Those facts apparently mean nothing to Mr. Taylor because, in his opinion, the trial was “racist.”

I don’t dispute that there are serious elements of racism and significant inequities in our criminal justice system, but don’t hold up this case as an example. For 30 years, Abu-Jamal has been right where he deserves to be.